Tancredo for president? Count me in

Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo’s new book, “In Mortal Danger: The Battle For America’s Borders and Security,” should be required reading for every high-school student, public official, elected representative, judge and presidential candidate, as well as every citizen and prospective citizen in America. It is that important. It is that valuable. And were its contents widely digested, I have no doubt it would radically alter the political, cultural and social landscape of our country.

That a politician has written a book is nothing new. That Tom Tancredo has something important to say about the direction of our country, our future, is nothing out of the ordinary. He has been a fire-breathing, relentless political presence since he was first elected to his state’s legislature in 1975. He has continued that legacy since his election to the U.S. House in 1998, always doing what is best for Coloradans and the country.

But to call Tom Tancredo ordinary is to grossly mischaracterize him. To call him a maverick is equally incorrect. He’s not ordinary, and he’s no maverick; he’s a patriot who knows what’s going on and who sees the future of America with a clarity lacking in many of his colleagues.

And that future, he says, is not good.

He speaks passionately about the “cult of multiculturalism” – a phrase he has coined – which he defines as an America-bashing collective of leftists, moral relativists, neo-Socialists, and academic and educational elitists (think Democrats), all of whom are hard at work destabilizing every aspect of traditional America. The America he calls “traditional” is the one founded on the values of two-parent, heterosexual families, pro-life beliefs, faith in God and Jesus Christ, hard work and selflessness.

Even though much of America remains wedded to such principles (think the majority of Red States), the factors influencing this rampant, destructive multiculturalism mimic the damage done to great powers in the past (think the collapse of the Roman Empire).

Professors on our college and university campuses teach students to “Hate America First.” They dismiss U.S. history and portray our nation as one born of dictatorial oppression, exploitation and murder, while ignoring the wealth of great, positive things America has created, accomplished or done for others. They prefer to celebrate dictators and murderers like “revolutionaries” Ch? Guevera and Fidel Castro, rather than George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Our mainstream media worship at the altar of the morally vacuous (think Hollywood and a number of sports “stars”) while bashing true heroes like everyday men and women who work, raise families, pay their taxes, obey the law, go to church, help their communities and serve their country’s military.

Tom Tancredo knows too many elected officials, political activists and legal groups advocate for illegal aliens and open borders, to the detriment of American taxpayers, workers and national security. To his political nemeses, alien lawbreakers “deserve” to have the same rights as you or I – or as the legal immigrants who followed our laws and came to live here the right way.

But Tom Tancredo also knows the secular decadence much of America is pursuing and that led to the fall of the Roman Empire is entirely preventable. He believes it because he knows what America – and Americans – are capable of accomplishing. That’s what makes this book – this message – so vitally important. And it comes not a moment too soon.

As a true believer in the Republican Party’s founding principles of conservatism: less (and cheaper) government, pro-family/pro-life stance, reduced taxes and a strong national defense – he has often warred with members of his party and the Bush administration over what he feels have been betrayals of those principles. Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, once told him he had no future in Congress; chief presidential adviser Karl Rove once demanded he never darken the door of the White House and Oval Office.

Rather than shrink from these challenges and these criticisms, Tom Tancredo has instead stepped up to meet them, all the while remaining truthful to himself, his constituents, his principles and his country. With DeLay gone now and Rove demoted to an official position of lesser influence, Tancredo has proven that his point of view, political prowess and high ethical standards – not theirs – are the sort that stand the test of time.

And that’s what makes him extraordinary among his colleagues; he practices what he preaches, no matter who in “The Establishment” it makes uncomfortable, because he knows it is the right thing to do.

By the way, those are just the sort of qualities we want in our presidents.

Pick up a copy of Tom Tancredo’s book. As a political manifesto, it is a once-in-a-lifetime find. Such rational, cogent clarity of thought doesn’t come along in our public servants very often. I’d hate for you to miss out on the most important message of our time: That America is indeed in mortal danger, but there is a leader who knows how to deliver us from evil.